Bennet, Udall To Help Obama Campaign Slam Romney Budget Plans
DENVER (AP) - President Barack Obama's campaign tried to pencil in the details of Mitt Romney's plans Monday as it released a report forecasting what the Republican nominee's preferred budget would do to Colorado.
The state's two Democratic U.S. Senators, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, unveiled the report at a press conference as mail ballots went out to voters and Republicans claimed that they were seeing increased enthusiasm among their base after Romney's strong performance in the Denver debate two weeks ago.
The Obama campaign report relies on Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal, which Romney supports, to project the impact of the GOP ticket's policies.
It forecasts what the budget's unspecified 20 percent cut in discretionary domestic spending would mean in the state. The Obama campaign said that translates to $61 million trimmed from public schools, fewer rangers in national parks and forests and less support for wind and solar energy projects.
"The Romney-Ryan budget would harm Colorado for many generations to come," Sen. Mark Udall said.
The Romney campaign shot back by contending that it will cost $4,000 in taxes per household to pay down the debt Obama has created. "Americans have a clear choice in this election - four more years like the last four years, or a real recovery," campaign spokesman Clay Sutton said.
Republicans contend they're increasingly confident that Colorado voters will side with them. They cite statistics showing that 2.4 percent more registered Republicans than Democrats have requested absentee ballots. The margin was only 0.1 percent at this point in 2008, when Obama handily won the state.
The Obama campaign has contended that its own well-established ground game, which helped the president run up immense margins nationally in 2008, could swing the vote by a point or two in Colorado. That's all that separates the two major party candidates in most public polls.
- By NICHOLAS RICCARDI, AP Writer
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